I stood for some time admiring the dress and dreaming. I felt the excitement of the wedding morning, the last minute preparations to ones hair by the attendant hairdresser...

Amanda's World

It was the only thing in the window. That is, apart from a paper banner in bright red with gold lettering proclaiming 'SALE'.

It was the window of the dress shop specialising in wedding wear and normally filled with half a dozen wedding dresses, page boys' outfits and smart, uncomfortable looking dresses or suits for the bride's mother.

And, of course, in the background to contrast with all the feminine finery, a tailor's dummy dressed in a morning suit and grey top hat.

But this morning there was just one dress, the sale bargain of the week, with a discreet price tag: £349...

I paused in astonishment. Before I had even seen the price tag I had been quite taken with the dress itself. Perhaps because it stood alone in the window, it had caught my attention as I hurried by and drawn me to the window to loook closer.

My breath was taken away by its beauty - it was of cream satin, with a demure round neckline beautifully embroidered, and the design carried on down over the bust to the waistline.

The puff sleeves carried a similar design with a delicate lace edging at the cuffs. Below the waist, the gown billowed out fully, but plain, to the scalloped hemline at the front, while at the back it was gathered into a full bustle from which masses of material descended into a wide flowing train, yards long, with delicate embroidery.

I could readily imagine how beautiful it would appear as it was held by pretty bridesmaids following the wearer up the aisle to the wedding ceremony, and afterwards as she walks on the arm of her groom - the hem rising and falling with each slow pace to the sound of the wedding march, and the swish of the satin skirt along the floor of the church.